Modding the Asus 701 (Eee) – Bluetooth

Now I’ve combined the two – I’ve added internal USB Bluetooth to my Eee without interfering with the built-in wireless, using the empty mini PCIe card slot, or disabling any of the available USB ports :)

First, I stripped the casing and USB connector off a small USB Bluetooth module (Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR):

After soldering 30 ga. flexible insulated wire to the USB Bluetooth module, I wrapped it in Kapton tape:

Then I connected the USB Bluetooth module to a 5V trace (off in standby) and a nearby ground trace – I used the USB signals available on the mini PCIe card slot occupied by the Atheros mini PCIe wireless card:

Finally, I decided to install the USB Bluetooth module in the area between the track pad and the status lights under the palm rest. I picked this location because there’s no shielding over the front edge of the palm rest to interfere with the PCB antenna on the USB Bluetooth module:

The end result in Xandros Linux:

The end result in Windows XP:

Here I have a Bluetooth mouse connected as well as my Sony Ericsson K850i which is being used both as an HSDPA modem over Bluetooth and as the camera taking these pictures:

641 Kbps dpwn and 264 Kbps up – pretty good for an HSDPA modem over Bluetooth, especially indoors, right next to a wireless router:

Just for reference, that uBlox GPS module I was talking about:
It’s a complete, standalone GPS receiver in just 17 x 22 mm
(available for under 100 Eur as a sample from UBlox or for 150 Eur as a complete evaluation kit)

[…] Finally, one of the first and fairly easy to do mods for the Eee has come to light. While this does require some soldiering it isn’t hard or expensive. All you need is a soldiering iron, a small USB bluetooth dongle and some quality time with your Eee. I plan on trying this mod out tonight on my Eee and I will be sure to report on its success. Hopefully this is the first of many such mods for the Eee. Read […]

[…] your creative mind and love to hack eee pc, then you can try this hack which was demonstrated by tnkgrl . Utilize a standard Bluetooth dongle, tnkgrl stripped it down and connect it to a mini PCIe slot […]

1.
Are you connecting to the same USB lines as one of the external ports or is this a spare USB port?
2.
I’m wondering if this impacts the use of the external USB ports?
3.
The Mini-PCIe slot; have you tried any cards in there? Especially Flash cards and possibly a cell modem card?

Having a Cell modem card in one of these would be just the nuts and I’ve heard that ASUS was going to offer up such a combo.

this is cool, could you theoreticlally wire in any USB device you wanted as long as it would fit? i am going to be buying an Eee pretty soon and i plan to put windows on it, but when i do i need to put the paging file somewhere besides the flash HD, if i could strip down a high speed USB flash drive and put it in there like that it could use it for the paging file, or maybe as extra memory. either way it would be sweet did anybody find out if it affects the external USB ports? great article thanks!

[…] It doesn’t come with bluetooth built in , but three usb ports mean that you can always use a usb bluetooth if you need that feature. Or if you are very brave and don’t mind voiding your warranty, tnkgrl has posted instructions for modding it for internal bluetooth! […]

To everyone wanting to add GPS – well now you have put bluetooth inside. why not use a bluetooth GPS receiver? THey are small and can be placed in the car for optimum reception, and then you can place the Eee where you can best see it (rather then perched precariously on the dashboard)

Tnkgrl, I thought I’d stop by and say thanks for the info. Following your pictures I was able to install my D-link Bluetooth module yesterday. I choose to mount it in the screen bezel; I figured there would be less shielding there to get in the way. The hardest part of the mod was getting the windows drivers working properly but it’s all sorted now.

I while ago (about 3 yers, sight how time flies) you did a similar mod to a Averatec 1050 when you installed a Bluetooth USB module onto the “3’d” onboard USB port. I picked up on that and did the same mod on my 1050 and it worked great, THANKS FOR THE INFO!!!

I’m just wondering, if you perhaps still have the info on how to do it available and more specifically, where that 2’nd USB dataline goes, let me explain:

If you remember, the +5V and 0V and one of the datalines were on the top side of the mainboard, the second dataline was on the underside of the mainboard, under the HD, it was actually a “test point” on the board that you showed to solder to. If I’m not mistaking you even mentioned that you couldn’t find a point for the second dataline on the top side of the mainboard. Anyway, this “testpoint” on the underside of my mainboard has fallen off and as the board is multilayer which meansthat I can’t find that point to the second dataline and I’m just wondering if you happen to know another point that I could find that second dataline to solder to?

Any help would REALLY be appreciated

BTW The Averatec forums are down and have been so for a while now, hence I can’t find your pics and comments any more.

I don’t suppose you remember or perhaps can still check if there is another “test point” for the “USB Data 2″ ? (The one underneath the HD)

As mentioned, that particular testpoint, has been working for 3 year now on my AV1050 but has now fallen off (no doubt due to my bad soldering) and it’s the actual “metal solder point” that has fallen off together with the wire, so I need to find another place to solder a wire onto the “USB Data 2″

The other 3 connection points (USB Data 1 and 5V and 0V) are just fine…

@Peter, I see :/ I’m afraid there’s not much you can do. You can try to follow the trace the test pad was attached to in the hopes of finding another test pad or a component to solder to, or (this is what I’d do) scrape the varnish off the trace and solder directly to it.(this is very delicate work, though).

Thanks again tnkgrl! After I read your article again (and refreshed my memory) the “scraping the varnish off” the trace seems like the best suggestion, so I guess I should be looking for the 3 pair of traces (near pin A20) identify the pair that is “USB3″ and then scrape off the varnish of “DATA USB2″ right? I haven’t had a close look at my mainboard yet, but looking at your pictures, are there really 3 pairs of traces, they look more like 3 single traces to me… Or are they so microscopical that there really are 6 traces all together but on the picture it just looks like 3?

Hi again tnkgrl,
just wanted to say thanks (yet again) just as you suggested, I scraped the varnish of the trace for “USB DATA2″ and connected to that trace. It was the very top trace that was the “USB DATA2″ I found the right one and it’s all working again.

An alternative if you feel you can “waste” an usb port and feel unsure about hardware hacks is the Ultra Small Bluetooth 2 USB Adapter 10m BT-2400p from Trust, Swedes can get it from here: http://www.netonnet.se/index.asp?iid=104946

[…] This guide will walk you through the motherboard modification and installing an internal Bluetooth module into an Asus Eee 701. I’ve added internal USB Bluetooth to my Eee without interfering with the built-in wireless, using the empty mini PCIe card slot, or disabling any of the available USB ports […]

If you are looking your new GPS navigator Store. I recommend you to find your new Garmin GPS Store at our website store. Anyway, you may find product spec., echnical review, accessories and maps update for Garmin 780,765T,755T,255W,360,205W,250,260,260W,265WT,270,760 and others Garmin nuvi information at http://garmingps.geogats.com/garmin-store/

Garmin Nuvi 265WT
Garmin’s nüvi 265WT improves upon its 200-series predecessors by adding free real-time traffic updates from Navteq (for the life of the device) as well as Bluetooth connectivity to your cell phone. Other significant improvements in the 2×5 series include a predictive technology that provides faster satellite lock, a redesigned screen with more information, terrain maps, and an exciting new photo navigation feature. The 265WT provides complete maps for North America and the handy Text-to-Speech feature, so you get turn-by-turn spoken directions with the real names of streets (e.g. “turn left in 50 feet at Nebraska Way”, rather than merely “turn left in 50 feet”).

Hi,
Great internal USB bluetooth mods!
Just figuring out how to add BT to a Sony Vaio X505…
BTW: all USB BT dongles I’ve tried so far get quite warm = they use a lot of current even when not in use. If mounted internally, there is no way to switch it off (except adding a switch to 5V). I guess most heat comes from linear voltage converter – BT & USB chips surely work on 3.3 or 2.8V, not 5V. Have you tried to connect a BT module to a voltage lower than 5V inside a computer? USB should still work fine, since it uses LVDS signalling.

Tnkgrl, (that’s one of my most favoritest movies, btw)
I think you mentioned the wireless is had via a mini-pci-e wireless card, if that is correct and i didn’t misread, could one replace that pci-e card, with a wireless+bluetooth mini pci-e card and achieve functionality? Of course, that’s not as fun, and a bit more expensive, but
that’d be sweet and I wouldn’t have to risk shorting a circuit – I can solder, but I have the distinct peculariarity of having very steady hands – until I try to hold them steady. I can’t seem to solder anything without leaving atleast a 22mm glob of solder in my wake!